In PlayStation Plus We Trust: October 22, 2013

Sony’s PlayStation Plus is a subscription-based service that allows members to get weekly and monthly access to discounted games on the PlayStation Network, as well as the occasional free game. Sony has calculated that the $50/year service has granted thousands of dollars in savings.

Everyone loves free games, but nobody likes a free game that’s a piece of HDD-hogging garbage. “In PlayStation Plus We Trust” is a weekly feature outlining the new free addition(s) to the Instant Game Collection to help you decide whether that newest freebie in the Store is worth your time.

This game is awesome. Inspired in style by the excellent Ryan Gosling movie Drive, this game stars an unnamed man who wakes up every morning to a cryptic message on his answering machine telling him to go to a location and perform some mundane task such as eliminate pests or make a delivery. Of course, this is code to kill everyone, with the assistance of a variety of special ability-granting masks. The narrative is a little strange and unnerving, and the art style is bright and incredibly gory.

The game takes a top-down view of the levels so you can see every room and plan ahead. You’ll need it, as each level is a breathlessly intense slaughterhouse. If you alert the entire floor to your presence, prepare to have to take out everyone extremely quickly. The average Hotline Miami level lasts around 20 seconds, and is some of the most intense gaming you will ever experience. The difference between success or failure may depend on how quickly you react to an enemy sprinting towards you, duck out of the way of gunfire, or clear a room after kicking down a door. It’s extremely challenging and it will leave your palms sweaty.

Verdict: Must Download

Deals

We’ve had a couple of weak weeks for deals, and this week more than makes up for them with a slew of stellar horror-themed markdowns. The Dead Island games are pretty fun for the price, Plants Vs. Zombies is great fun, Red Dead Redemption and the Undead Nightmare DLC are a steal at the $13.99 price point, and The Walking Dead is a must-have at $1.25 per episode.